[worldhover]

Originally Posted by robimahanta

Ever since Mahindra started events in their new facility in November 2021, I wanted to visit it. So finally for the June 25th Adventure event, Bhpian Tilt and I signed up. We chose to do both the Mahindra SUV Proving track (MSPT) tour and the Off-Road Track events. Since Mahindra was providing the vehicles for the event and we couldn’t drive our own cars on track, we decided to travel together in my Polo GTI to the facility near Kanchipuram.

Hi @robinmahanta, few questions reg Xtreme Adventure off-road academy event at MSPT Chennai (Cheyyar)

Can this course be attended without any off-road experience?
Can a non-driving person accompany the participant to the event?
Can we opt for Thar Automatic instead of manual?
What is exactly offered in Optional Add On – Mahindra SUV Proving Track Experience? which is being charged separately?

[robimahanta]

Originally Posted by worldhover

questions reg Xtreme Adventure off-road academy event at MSPT Chennai (Cheyyar)

Can this course be attended without any off-road experience?
Can a non-driving person accompany the participant to the event?
Can we opt for Thar Automatic instead of manual?
What is exactly offered in Optional Add On – Mahindra SUV Proving Track Experience? which is being charged separately?

1. Yes, no off-road experience necessary
2. It is two drivers per car, non-driving person can accompany as long as they pay the same as the driver. The driver can then do the circuit twice.
3. If you want to opt for an automated you ll have to tell them during the booking process or before you actually reach there.
4. The optional add on is just a tour of their facility and the track. They will take you around in a Mahindra XUV/Alturas to show you the entire track testing facility including the high speed ring, dynamic skid pad etc.

[robimahanta]

Car Updates:

GTI

The front strut mounts needed replacement and as I was ordering it, I came across a good deal on Bilstein B6 dampers. I had decided to keep the GTI for a few more years and it seemed damper upgrade would prove beneficial. I have had Bilstein B6 in my previous cars, it is a mod which makes a tangible difference to the ride and handling without any compromise on the ground clearance (as long as you are using the stock springs). I swapped the stock Monroe dampers with Bilstein B6 along with new strut mounts. The ride quality improved a lot and made me realise that I shouldn't have waited 48000kms before doing this change.

Stock Monroe dampers removed



Bilstein B6 getting ready



New dampers getting installed





A big shout out to Bala from Code6 who did the installation of all the four dampers in less than an hour.

Finally an amazing 800km drive with friends along some brilliant twisty roads to Kerala from Bangalore




M340i

The M340i has enough power but it is very heavy and you can feel the weight transfer and tad amount of chassis flex especially on track. Bolt on bracing options were not many but BMS had a strut brace (solid block of billet aluminium) which was a direct fit. I got it installed and the front end feels a lot better during cornering now. The uncomfortable yawing is controlled to a great extent. The Supra and 440i comes with these braces as stock and not sure why BMW gives it a miss in the M340i. The holes are all there and one just needs to screw in the braces.

Installing the braces



Engine bay with the strut braces installed



The stock air intake has a recess to accommodate the brace



Link to the G20 braces
https://burgertuning.com/products/bm...40i-and-m340ix


Eventuri Carbon Fibre intake

I got the lovely Eventuri intake for the M340i as well. It is a work of art and designed beautifully with a recess to accommodate the strut braces. It is a sealed unit with gold coated reflector to avoid heat soak from the exhaust manifold/turbo side. It looks and sounds beautiful even though I am not quite sure about its performance benefit.

For those who want more details about the intake
https://www.eventuri.net/products/bmw-g20-b58/

A lovely piece of carbon fibre



Looks even more amazing when installed





Again a big shout out to Robesh from Marque One for helping me install the intake.


Tyre changing stuff:

I keep swapping tyres in my cars and just wanted to mention the stuff that is useful in doing so. I swap between 18 & 19 in the M340i and 18 & 16 (M/T) in my Thar.

BMW has a funny jack point which makes it difficult to use an aftermarket hydraulic jack. I got the BMS aluminium jack pad which makes it a breeze to use any hydraulic jack.

Link: https://burgertuning.com/products/bm...ck-pad-adapter

Some pics of the jack pad and its use.





I also use a wheel hanger pin to align the tyre before tightening the lugs. These are large heavy tyres and the hanger pin helps a lot by holding the rim centered on the hub as you screw in your lug nuts

Hanger pin in action


Link:https://burgertuning.com/products/bms-wheel-pin-tool

Also use these protective wheel sockets so that the rims are not scratched. The socket has a synthetic polymer sleeve which protects the rims from scratches.

Link:https://burgertuning.com/products/ex...l-saver-socket

Finally I use a myTVS electric wrench which makes removing and tightening wheel lugs a breeze.

Wheel wrench with socket


Link: https://mytvs.com/mytvs-tw-68-car-el...h-for-all-cars


Thats all for now. Will write a post about track experiences at Kari, Coimbatore and MMRT, Chennai soon.

Cheers!

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by robimahanta

Car Updates:


Cheers!

Which is the brand of trolley jack that you are using.


Great updates. The wheel hanger thing was my personal take away as I too end up taking my tyres off for some job or another.

Drive on,
Shibu

[HighRevving]

How do you find the change in dampers in terms of ride quality and handling? From my little experience of driving the GTI, I felt the stock suspension was tad soft and not great for high speed cornering.

[spoth001]

Hey great upgrades. Just a query, how did you manage red callipers ? I’m considering getting mine repainted to blue and the wheels to shiny black. Do you recommend ?

[robimahanta]

Originally Posted by shibujp

Which is the brand of trolley jack that you are using.

I am using a 3 Ton rated trolley jack with stands bought from Amazon. Not sure of the brand. Just go through the reviews in Amazon and choose one.

Originally Posted by HighRevving

How do you find the change in dampers in terms of ride quality and handling? From my little experience of driving the GTI, I felt the stock suspension was tad soft and not great for high speed cornering.

I am used to the B6 ride from my previous cars. Damping is better than stock and feels better dynamically over stock in day to day driving.

Originally Posted by spoth001

Hey great upgrades. Just a query, how did you manage red callipers ? I’m considering getting mine repainted to blue and the wheels to shiny black. Do you recommend ?

Mine came with red callipers from the factory. I cannot recommend any calliper paint colour as it is a personal choice.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by robimahanta

A big shout out to Bala from Code6 who did the installation of all the four dampers in less than an hour.

Credit goes to Megazoid, who would have made Bala swap the suspension more times than F1 teams do an entire season

[robimahanta]

Track Day Events:

BMW

When I got my M340i, BMW promised a free track day and it got delayed multiple times due to the pandemic. Finally they had the events in Buddh,Delhi and MMRT, Chennai. I wanted to try out the car in Buddh but it didn't work out due to time and logistical constraints. Finally, decided to attend the MMRT, Chennai event organised by BMW, India for M car owners. I know M340i is not a full blown M car but it is indeed a value for money entry point to all exclusive M events by BMW,India. After all they sold around 200 M340i's in India till date.
I drove down to MMRT (Sriperumbudur) track with my good friend Dr.AD from Bangalore in the morning to reach the track by 9am. It was a nice drive in the early hours of the day where I wanted to save the XP100 octane fuel for the event. Eventually ended up with a double digit mileage, even with decent average speeds.

On reaching the venue, we were welcomed with some nice breakfast and shiny M cars. After a drivers briefing, the group was split into two of 4 drivers each. One group did the laps on track following a pace car in our own cars while the other group did drag races in the full blown M cars namely the G80 M4C, M5C Lci and the X5M.

The track was wet and there was water in some areas so it was never a flat out lap but nevertheless, it was awesome fun. I did some 10 odd laps of the circuit including cool down laps and was amazed by the capabilities of the M340i. Tyres were the weakest link as expected. The braces helped with the front end feel in the corners a lot. The engine is not a full blown M engine but holds its ground and the ZF transmission is tuned very well. The shifts are intuitive and you rarely would feel the need to use the paddles. Finally there is a hint of understeer at times and you can definitely feel the excess weight of the car too. The XDrive makes it very easy to drive and you always have a safety net. As a 4 door saloon which costed 62.9 ex showroom (when I got) pushing close to 400hp, there isn't any other mainstream stock car south of 1 Cr which is probably as fast on the track. Cannot wait to hit the track again soon (maybe with a set of MRF 245/40 18 semi slicks).

Coming to the drag event, we took turns to drive the M4, M5C and the X5M. We were not allowed to used launch control but still managed to get around 4 sec to 100 and 11.5-12.5 quarter miles for all the cars on a wet drag strip. The real M cars are in a class of its own.The G80 M4 looks great in person inspite the large grills, the M5C is the perfect sleeper while the X5M just defies physics. I wish we had the chance to do some laps with these cars on the track.

Big shout out to BMW, India for inviting me for this event. Sharing some images from the event. Some pics are shot by Dr.AD, mostly the ones where the car is on the move.

They had some sim rigs with PS4 (but the real deal was more fun)


Cars are lined up before heading to the track


My car behind another Sunset Orange M340i


The lovey M4C and the M5C


At the wheel




Badging keeps reminding you that you are in something special


My car on the move


M4 rolling out


PORSCHE

The Porsche track experience was something special in Kari, Coimbatore. Porsche announced track experiences in India and I had to sign up for it. Driving a Porsche on track is every car enthusiasts dream. I have had the opportunity of driving 911's outside India on track but this was the first time I could experience the entire Porsche range sold in India on track. The hospitality by Porsche was top notch and the experience was well worth the money.

I reached Coimbatore in the evening and after the registration formalities and a scrumptious dinner, retired for the night to an eventful track day the next morning.





We reached the track around 9 am and after a short drivers briefing, we were divided into groups for the different events planned for the day.





First was the ABS testing, in a Panamera Turbo S with ceramic brakes. The Panamera had brutal acceleration and braking was equally mind bending. It is impossible to fathom how agile and quick the Panamera Turbo S is. We did multiple runs of hard acceleration and equally hard braking with change of direction, the car kept at it without breaking a sweat.



Next up was a cornering test with the Macan GTS, Macan 2.0 and Cayenne Turbo. All of them hid their mass well and the Porsche handling is always special. Macan GTS felt the best with all the options ticked and the lovely Pirelli Corsa tyres.



Finally, the best was saved for the last. We had a slalom course in the 992 911 Carrera S and the 991.2 911 GT3 RS. The GT3 RS was sublime as expected but the 911 held its own too.





Then after a quick lunch, we did around 3 laps around Kari track in each of the cars. The GT3 RS took the cake here with its 9000rpm redline and steering feel. What a car!



We even got to experience the Taycan over a few laps in the circuit. It was fast but somehow I am still not used to the electric car feel.



A big thanks to Porsche India for conducting this event in India and looking forward to the next one in Buddh. Porsche seems to be the most logical upgrade from the M340i. Wish they priced it better especially with the options in India.

Some random images from the event.

Lovely colours.


The line up

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by robimahanta

I drove down to MMRT (Sriperumbudur) track with my good friend Dr.AD from Bangalore in the morning to reach the track by 9am. It was a nice drive in the early hours of the day where I wanted to save the XP100 octane fuel for the event.

Lovely report, @robimahanta, and some very awesome machines you drove. These are some of the best cars in the world, and driving them on the track must have been an absolutely fantastic experience. Thank you for sharing your experiences and these pictures.

Thanks a lot for taking me along with you to MMRT. It was a great opportunity for me to see some of those amazing cars in person, see them driven hard on track, and also ride shotgun with you on the track and in the drags. I thoroughly enjoyed that trip and enjoyed being the company of those dream-worthy cars. Thanks again!

I was very impressed by how well the M340i moved on the track, even tough I was only riding shotgun. Even as a passenger, I could sense the control and poise of the car, and sense how well it was managing those fast corners, and how quickly we were galloping the distance on that track while taking the S-curves at rapid pace and in total control all the time. I could easily imagine a lesser car getting thrown out of the track if it tries those corners at those speeds. What an amazing car this is, the M340i! I think it is almost 90% of the full-blown M cars in terms of capabilities.

If you could please allow me, I would like to share a few more pictures that I took there at MMRT at the BMW Track Day. Hope it is OK.

The new M4:


The M4 looks absolutely gorgeous in person. All the talks about that big ugly grill are forgotten when you see the car in person. The car looks just amazing, even with that grill, and looks like a true blue sports car. We even got to do one fast drag in this car and loved it. This is my new dream car now (since dreams are free).

The mighty M5C:



Three "Sunset Orange" M340is on track, and it was a sight to behold. The three sleek M340is moving at a real fast pace and in a poetic rhythm, it was fantastic:



My (somewhat failed) attempts at taking panning shots of Robi's car as he drove on the track, at a pace faster than my shutter speed :



Another failed attempt (the car came too close for my telephoto lens and I could only get a cropped image), but somehow I still like this photo:

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by robimahanta

Porsche seems to be the most logical upgrade from the M340i. Wish they priced it better especially with the options in India.

So what will be your pick from the Porsche range to replace M340? From the driver's perspective, otherwise as a complete 4-seater, I don't think there will be anything from Porsche. Panamera drives like a yacht, from my experience with earlier models.

[robimahanta]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

So what will be your pick from the Porsche range to replace M340? From the driver's perspective, otherwise as a complete 4-seater, I don't think there will be anything from Porsche. Panamera drives like a yacht, from my experience with earlier models.

True. I would not replace it with a 4 seater from Porsche for sure. I don’t have a requirement of rear seats at all. Close to two years, I may have used the rear seat in the M340i maybe once or twice. Heart will always yearn for a 911 but it is too low and impractical for Bangalore. Hopefully in the next 5 years the infrastructure improves and we can daily a Carrera S.

[robimahanta]

BMW Drive

Due to the extended monsoons this year, it has been a while I took the 340i for a drive. One of the BMW dealers in Bangalore, Deutsche Motoren organised a short drive followed by lunch and I signed up for it. The drive as such was nothing interesting as it was through the city with traffic and pot hole riddled roads. The lunch location at Big Banyan Vineyards was fantastic and it was lovely meeting a lot of fellow enthusiasts. The convoy comprised of 7 M340i's and a couple of 330i M Sports.

A big thanks to Deutsche Motoren for inviting me for this wonderful event.

The day started with a scrumptious breakfast at the BMW service facility and a tour of the unit. They have got a lot good equipments including Italian paint booth, welding gear etc. They installed a 50KW fast charger too for all electric cars (any brand)

Weather played spoiled sport and it was drizzling throughout.

Service unit tour


Grey all around


Flag-off by the service head. Lead car was a demo 330i.


Went through the city to a photo stop near Vidhan Soudha. M340i group.


Finally reached the lovely Big Banyan Vineyards for lunch and some networking.




The actual Big Banyan tree which is close to the location


Some great live food counters, appam & stew, grills and pasta etc






They even had some BMW accessories like big brake kit, CF mirror caps etc on display/sale


Explained their wine making process and a tasting session was arranged for those who were interested




A dirty car after a long hard drive is always nice to look at






Addendum to the tyre equipment

Often the tyre stores, over tighten the wheel lugs so much so that the electric wrench may not be able to loosen it. Then we need a extension for leverage (picked up a 3 ft hollow pipe from a construction site). This along with some WD40 works wonders for jammed lugs.


Also picked up a rated torque wrench and a 21mm deep socket (Thar). Tighten lugs to around 140Nm.



Wireless Carplay in the GTI

Few weeks back I had installed Apple Carplay in the GTI. Then I found an option to make it wireless using a Carlinkit. My old dashcam which I was using since 2015 was on its last legs, hence decided to get the daschcam combined with wireless car play. I often take my phone out for photos and videos during a drive and wireless carplay is a boon.

Link to the product:
https://carlinkitcarplay.com/product...m-1080p-ai-box

It is basically an android phone and dashcam view is visible on the car system itself. You get android auto built in as well. It is a chinese product but the build quality is good and UI even though not great is quite manageable. The camera quality is not as great as the latest 70mai/ddpai cameras.

Specs


Installed


Adjusting the video feed angle


Carplay now wireless


Android Auto


My old broken taped up Trascend dashcam

[batish]

Originally Posted by robimahanta

Addendum to the tyre equipment

Which tyre inflator do you use for Thar? Asking since the usual ones fail in summers due to overheating while inflating from 15 to 32 PSI.

One more thing, is 21mm plastic sleeved socket available online which is reasonable? All I can see are listings which are >2k.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by robimahanta

Also picked up a rated torque wrench and a 21mm deep socket (Thar). Tighten lugs to around 140Nm.

This is good stuff. Can you share where did you buy? Also, for BMW or any other vehicles, instead of that TVS electric wrench, always go with a Torque wrench while tightening settings per manufacturer. It's very important to tighten to correct torque.